لطفا منتظر باشید ...
The Sixth Imam
Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq
(A.
S)
Holy Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq (A.
S) was born in 83 Hijrah,
on the seventeenth of the month
of Rabi'al Awwal.
His Holy
father was Imam Muhammad al-Baqir (A.
S) and his
distinguished mother's name was
Fatima
Imam Mohammad Baqir (A.
S),
according to God's
command and the decree of the Prophet,
appointed his son,
Imam Ja'far Sadiq, to Imamate and
leadership and
introduced him to the people as
such
Holy Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq (A.
S),
had more or less extra
freedom to spread and propagate
the commandments of
religion and the edicts as, due
to the numerous occupations
and battles the rulers of his time
were less able to create
troubles for him.
Imam Sadiq, blessed be he.
benefited
from this
opportunity and made great efforts
in teaching the
knowledge of religion and in spreading
Islamic culture.
He
introduced to the people the sublime
ideals and ethics of
Islam, and cultured his students
in wisdom.
The students of
Imam Sadiq, taking lessons from
him in the various sciences,
numbered to four thousand, some
of them writing valuable
books for posterity.
Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq, (A.
S),
illuminated the
truths of the Quran and Islam just
as they are, and taught to
the people the true ethics and
behavior of the Holy Prophet
of Islam and of Imam Ali and explained
the signs of a true
Muslim and Shia.
It is for this
reason that the Shia school of
Islam is also called the Jafari
school.
Holy Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq, (A.
S),
lived in this
world for a period of 65 years.
He was martyred in 148 A.
H.
on the twenty-fifth of the month
of Shawwal in Medina,
where his body was buried in Baqi
Graveyard alongside the
tomb of Imam Baqir.
The Peace of
God be ever upon them!
How to Behave with People
Zakariyya was a young Christian
who lived in the city
of Kufa, in Iraq.
His mother and
father and all his family
and relatives were Christians.
Through his acquaintance and
contacts with Muslims, Zakariyya
had become attracted to
Islam.
He had seen the Muslims'
good behavior and ethics.
their cleanliness, honesty, prayer
and other forms of worship.
He learnt a little about the Quran,
and began to reflect on
some of its verses.
Thus, after
inquiry and research.
Zakariyya accepted Islam and became
a Muslim.
Some time after this he traveled
to Mecca to perform
Hajj.
On his return.
he stopped
over at Medina and there he
visited Imam Ja'faral-Sadiq (A.
S).
"I used to be a Christian".
he
said to the Imam.
And I
have only recently accepted Islam."
Then, in reply to the Imam's question
as to what had
made him become a Muslim.
he continued:
"I reflected a lot on the contents
of the Quran.
I
wondered how it was that an uneducated
man.
unable to read
and write, could produce such a
beautiful and profound
book.
Thus I became sure that the
Quran is a book revealed
by God, and that Muhammad (S.A.) is God's prophet.
So
after research and investigation
I accepted Islam."
Imam Sadiq (A.S.) prayed for him,
saying: "O God.
fill
his heart with light."
"O son of the Prophet", Zakariyya
then said.
"My
father and mother and all my family
and relatives are
Christian, how should I behave
towards them? My mother is
very old and blind and needs to
be nursed, what should I do?
Should I break my relationship
with her?"
"Islam", said Imam Sadiq (A.
S),
"is a religion of
compassion and kindness."
"It has many stipulations about
relatives, especially
parents.
O young man, take care
of your mother and help her
as much as you can.
Be kinder and
more helpful to her than
before.
God forbid that you should
be disrespectful to her or
shout back at her when she calls
you."
Zakariyya listened to these words
of the Imam, took his
leave and returned to Kufa.
He went straight home to stay with
his mother.
There,
more than ever before, he helped
her and was kind to her and
ever ready to cheer her up.
He
gave her food and drink with
his own hands.
He washed her and
her clothes and kept the
house tidy.
He led her by the hand
whenever she wanted to go
anywhere.
And, when he was free,
he would sit and chat with
her and cheer her up.
The mother was surprised at the
kind behavior of her
son.
"You were not like this when
you followed our religion".
she said to him.
"You did not take
such care of me.
What has
made you become so kind towards
me?"
"Mother", Zakariyya replied, "our
Imam and leader
who lives in Medina told me to
help my mother and father as
much as I can."
"He must be a Prophet", said the
mother, "because it is
the Prophets who give such instructi3ns
about one's
parents."
"No, mother", said Zakariyya ,
"he is not a Prophet.
he
is an Imam and the heir of the
Prophet.
Our Prophet is the last
of the Prophets and !o new Prophet
will come after him."
Zakariyya looked at his mother.
Tears were flowing
down her face.
"Dear son", she said, "your religion
is the best religion
of the religions.
What good teachings
you have accepted!
What a religion to be thinking
of a blind old mother!"
"Son", she continued, "tell me
about the beliefs and
practices of this holy religion."
Thus Zakariyya sat down with his
mother and
discussed God, the Hereafter and
the Prophet of Islam.
As
soon as the mother understood Islam,
she accepted it, learnt
how to take wudu and perform the
prayer, and performed the
noon, afternoon, sunset, and evening
prayers.
Then, that very
same night, her condition changed
for the worse and she
became weak and feeble.
She called her son and asked him
to repeat for her the
beliefs of Islam.
Her compassionate son took the
hand of his weak, old
mother in his own and, with tears
in his eyes, told her, "Say: I
testify that God is One, Unique,
the Creator of the world and
all its inhabitants; I testify
that Muhammad is the servant of
God and His Messenger; I believe
in the Hereafter and life
after death, and I know that God
bestows a beautiful reward
on those who do good and punishes
those who do bad."
The mother repeated all he said,
smiled, and then left this
world for the Hereafter.
The Muslims
performed the burial
ceremonies for the body of that
new-Muslim.
With tears in
his eyes, Zakariyya placed her
body in the grave and prayed
for her forgiveness.
